Seriously, Is anyone making Six figures off strictly djing?

Is 100k possible with the right marketing approach?

The reason I’m asking is to weigh options :

Continue with post college path or an entrepreneurial path. I want financial freedom, so that’s why I’m putting money over passion. Ideally I can combine the two. I pussy footed around with the decks in college but could never commit my time to getting gigs.

I see some people doing decent thing with their own event groups. When it comes to monetization I just don’t see how one could command $2000 on average of 52 weeks a year

Yep. This industry can be pretty shitty sometimes. But that’s why it’s important to work with good people and take care of each other. I’m spinning with a much better crew now and it’s a great feeling!

I mean I had 2 residencies in parts of Los Angeles and I was bringing in around 800 a week and that was 1 saturday night and a thursday night. It's not impossible if you're in a big city and playing to the crowd.

I was networking with business owners though and make good deals - like any other business - at the end of the day you have to have a solid business foundation.

You would be a very, VERY small part of the DJ community to make that kind of money from my experience, and you would certainly be a business/broker and no longer a DJ. I would also postulate that you are unlikely to be playing music or coordinating anything other than corporate stuff, weddings, and the most mainstream popular trends.

You'll be a manager at that level of income. Do you want to be a DJ manager/promoter, or a DJ?

My dream right now is to move to an area with a high Caribbean population start a “reggae” soundsystem. we’d run events like club nights and day parties that cater to urban and Caribbean based music . This type of thing revolves around Djs ,Mc,sounds engineer and a huge speakers set up . So, you’re dealing with a team typically. Then you can use this foundation to throw a unique twist on weddings and corporate events as well. If I can expand to management /deals with outside djs, thats ideal considering my business related education.

Where can I learn more about being a dj manager / promoter? Do you have any resources?

No, I don't have resources for you. It's the side of the business I have zero interest in. Everyone I know who does it doesn't make much money, works way too much, or is an alcoholic or some other kind of addict. I like music, that's it for me

If this is what you want to do, it's simple. Go work in the industry and learn. Find an opportunity with someone who does a version of what you want to do and soak up knowledge.

imo, the best way is to just be a resident at a few popular clubs in your city, make enough money to start promoting yourself on socials, then move to make deals with bigger and better clubs, and try to do a few festivals too, then from there its up to people to decide whether or not you are a good DJ and can move a crowd, and from there your price goes up

Creating songs and mixes that people can hear is really useful as well!

In my experience promoting is way more lucrative than DJing. Would be interested in hearing others weigh in on this. You mentioned entrepreneurialism so perhaps this would be appealing to you as well. I’ve just found that if I am producing the party, my destiny is more in my own hands vs finding someone to hire me to play. It’s riskier for sure; I’ve lost money at times. But the best parties I’ve produced have made me more money than the biggest gigs I’ve played. And I still put myself on the lineup for those parties so I get the joy of playing and the exposure.